Treaty of Chudniv

The Treaty of Chudniv, Chudnov, Cudnów, or Treaty of Slobodyshche is a treaty between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Cossack Hetmanate, signed in Chudniv on 17 October 1660 (O.S. 7 October 1660) during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. It restored most of the provisions of the Treaty of Hadiach, except for the elevation of Ruthenia to the status equal to Poland and Lithuania. It invalidated the Pereiaslav Articles, which were often considered unfavorable for Ukraine, severed the union with the Tsardom of Russia and restored Ukraine's state ties with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Although the Ukrainian government insisted on the full restoration of the Treaty of Hadiach of 1658, the side of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, represented by Stanisław Potocki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski, did not agree to the restitution of the Grand Duchy of Ruthenia, leaving other points of the Treaty of Hadiach in force.

The treaty was signed following the Polish victory at the Battle of Chudniv. The treaty meant that the Cossacks withdrew their support from Russia in the Russo–Polish War (1654–67), and transferred it back to the Commonwealth.

The Hetmanate regained some autonomy, switched its allegiance back to the Commonwealth, and once more abandoned Muscovy. A Cossack council in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi in Right-Bank Ukraine ratified the treaty, but the Left-Bank regiments led by Yakym Somko and Vasyl Zolotarenko continued their allegiance to Muscovy, thereby effectively splitting Ukraine along the Dnipro.

The war would eventually be concluded with the 1667 Treaty of Andrusovo.

Terms The Treaty of Chudniv contained the following main points: IThe representers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Potocki and Lubomirski must confirm with their oath the Treaty of Hadiach. Regarding the points that concern the Grand Principality of Ruthenia, the Hetman was required to transfer the matter in the hands of the King for the time being.IIYurii Khmelnytsky with the Ukrainian Cossack army retreats from the Tsar of Russia and should not look for a patron other than the King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.IIIThe hetman with the army returns to Ukraine to take back the fortresses that are under the control of Russia.IVThe Pereiaslav colonel Tymish Tsytsiura is forgiven for his crimes. He undertakes to return the weapon against the Russians and prove his loyalty to the king.VThe Nizhyn and Chernihiv regiments are ordered to retreat from the Russians, otherwise Khmelnytsky must oppose them.VIIn case of a rebellion in the Cossack Hetmanate or in other localities, the hetman must suppress it.VIIThe possessions of the Crimean Khanate should not be attacked by the Cossacks as long as the friendship between the khan and the king of the Commonwealth continues.VIIINot only the hetman, but also the common people must swear to the king before the sent commissioners.

Grand Principality of Ruthenia

This stipulation has generally been regarded as the cancellation of the agreement to establish the Grand Principality of Ruthenia (Rus') as envisioned by the original treaty text of Hadiach in September 1658. However, it has often been misrepresented as not mentioning the term at all: "However, the Poles were no wiser than the Muscovite politicians and, taking advantage of the Ukrainians’ difficult situation at the time, refused to reinstate the Union of Hadiach as it had been originally drawn up, instead removing from it everything that referred to the Grand Pr[incipality] of Rus'." Mykhailo Hrushevsky (1921)."Але Поляки також не були розумнїйші від московських політиків і покладаючи на трудне тодішнє становище Українців, уже не згодили ся відновити Гадяцьку унїю, так як була уложена, а викинули з неї все, що говорило ся про велике кн. Руське." Mykhailo Hrushevsky, Ілюстрована історія України. Боротьба з Москвою [Illustrated History of Ukraine. The Struggle against Moscow]. (1921). p. 335. "Iurii Khmel'nyts'kyi renounced the idea in 1660 (the Treaty of Chudniv with the Commonwealth did not include the term Rus' Principality)." Tatiana Tairova-Yakovleva (2020). "On 29 (19) October 1660, Y. Khmelnytsky arrived at the camp of the Crown forces, where, in the presence of the Grand Hetman of the Crown, S. Potocki and E.-S. Lubomirski, confirmed by oath the Treaties of Hadiach (from which the clause on the establishment of the Ruthenian Grand Principality had been removed) and the T[reaty] of Ch[udniv] itself." Viktor Horobets (2021). "The new treaty expunged the very name of the Rus' principality, so important to the Cossack authors of the Hadiach union." Serhii Plokhy (2022).

Differing versions of the text have been circulating, including Ukrainian translations such as Vasyl Herasymchuk's rendition, published by the Shevchenko Scientific Society (Lviv 1913), featuring phrases such as "with the exception of" that are not found in the original Polish treaty text:

A 2004 modern Ukrainian translation co-published by the Shevchenko Scientific Society ran as follows:

Treaty of Chudniv

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